All Good Things Flow Into The City
by The Great and Powerless
Summary: Twilight Sparkle was always destined for great things, but when a plane crash brings her to the mysterious underwater utopia of Dream Valley, she has to discover what brought her there and the city's darkest secrets.
1. All Good Things Flow Into The City

All Good Things Flow Into The City

The Princess once told that I was capable of many things, and had potential. She was right.

Everything was a momentary blur before I felt cold water rush over me. Disoriented, I tried to swim towards the surface, watching as the belongings of other ponies sank beneath me. The longer it took tighter my chest felt, until I finally reached the surface and graciously filled my lungs. I struggled to stay afloat, never really having much need to swim before, blinking blindly in the blaze of the plane. Just enough light was offered for me to notice the towering lighthouse, alone in the middle of the sea. I swam to the best of my abilities, dragging myself over broken steps onto solid ground. The night cold bit me through the small coat that clung to my body with the weight of water, and the plane sank into the sea. As far as I could see, nopony else had managed to escape or even make it to the surface.

The flames offered little light as I climbed the steps up to the doors of the light house, which openned with ease. Two steps inside set off lights and illuminated a statue of a great Alicorn, head raised in pride. A beautiful tapestry was adorned with the phrase, "_No Gods or Kings, Only Ponies." _I chose one side of the ramp, treding lightly as I looked around. There were plaques on the wall, two that stood out being "Science" and "Comerce." Two beautiful torches lit an archway that led to a small, spherical submersable.

Everything I'd ever read suggested that it wasn't the thing to explore, but given my current options, I didn't have much choice. With delicate steps I went into the vessel, hoof by hoof. I noticed the inside was surprisingly well maintained and chose a seat for myself as it began to submerge. Before the water could cover half of the glass, a film began to play.

It began with a picture of the same Alicorn I had seen in the lighthouse, though she was sitting and wearing glasses. A pipe hovered next to her, glowing with magic.

_I am Celestia of Canterlot, and I'm here to ask you a question. Is a pony not entitled to the sweat of her brow? "No!" says the Pegasus of Cloudsdale, "It belongs to the sky." "No!" says the Pony of Manehatten, "It belongs to the earth." "No!" says the Unicorn in Canterlot, "It belongs to the gifted." Well, I rejected those answers; instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose Dream Valley. _

At this moment, the screen lifted, and illuminated towers of an underwater marvel showed itself as a shark swam by. The buildings rose out of a deep trench, and glowed the most magnificent green I had ever seen. I drifted lower, seeing casinos and art galleries and restaurants flow by between beautiful fish and mysterious beasts of the deep. As I felt a slight bump, I heard the track come to an end.

_And with the sweat of your brow, Dream Valley can become your city as well._

As she finished, I watched three archways lead me into the city - _All good things flow into the city. _


	2. Lightning and Fire

Voices had come after the video, but they had sounded like more static than actual words. I only really caught one thing, a mare's voice, suggesting that someone go investigate. I could only assume that they meant me. The pod moved into a small, cylindrical room that slowly lifted me higher into the building. The walls were adored with advertisements for spells I had never heard of on the surface.

The sphere surfaced, and two figures stood on the other side of the glass. A mare and a stallion, one slowly pacing towards the other. He begged for mercy as she sang, and she rose to her hind hooves and dug two blades into him that appeared to be attached to her wrist. He fell to the ground, a faint gurgle resonating as he… he died.

She paced closer to the bathysphere, whispering huskily and stifling what sounded like giggles.

"Is someone there? Is it someone new?" Her whisper was hastily replaced by shrieks and the sound of metal-on-metal as she climbed on top of the sphere. The scratching grew louder and sparks began to fly inside of the sphere and I did all I could to remain calm, hastily looking for a way out that wouldn't lead me right into her blades.

Wires sparked and fell from a cracking ceiling when a voice returned to console me. "Would you kindly pick up the radio, Ms. Sparkle?"

Without a moment's thought, I levitated it closer, fashioning a necklace from the broken wires and tying it around my neck through the loop in the top. I glanced towards the door, seeing the singing mare once again, this time with her back turned to me.

"I don't know how you survived that plane crash, but luck is luck now isn't it? I've always liked to think of myself as a very lucky mare. My name is Mi Amore Cadenza. You can call me Cadence. Hopefully, with my help, we can keep you alive. But I'm going to need you to keep moving Twilight. You need to get to higher ground."

I opened my mouth to ask how she would know my name, but at the moment there were more pressing matters. Everything I had ever learned suggested that I should indeed ask for more information, but... She was right; I would have to keep moving.

The door slowly creaked open, and immediately I went to grab it and pull it shut again. There didn't appear to be any turning back at all, not that there appeared to be anywhere to turn back to. I stepped out, feeling the cold, moist ground beneath my hooves.

"Keep going Twilight. Don't worry, you'll be fine. I'll be here to help you."

As I continued I encounter a carpet pathway, and magnificent windows that granted me a view of the sea and the city. A shark swam by, fearless of the haunting glow of the dying ember. Each step along the carpet elicited a _squish_, the fabric drenched from leaks in the ceiling that offered less comfort than the sparking bathysphere.

"And this might sound crazy Twilight, just trust me, but we have to draw her out. We're going to take her down."

Picket signs from protests lay scattered across the floor, along with abandoned luggage and debris. I was almost too scared to ask what happened. Almost.

And I would have asked her had a voice not sent hot breath over my neck before vanishing into the darkness.

"_We could throw such a fun party together_..."

I spun, trying to find her and finding nothing, but hearing the soft scratch of her blades ahead. I moved as silently as I could up the stairs, shoulders hunched and head down. I had no weapon, no fighting chance at all. The only spells I knew would make her grow facial hair or change colors.

More sparks flew in the darkness, and suddenly her body was illuminated by a bright white light, complimented by Cadence taunting her in triumph.

But I found it hard to rejoice when I saw the pony before me, hardly a pony at all. Her face was distorted and distended, like a corpse that retained too much water, and covered in boils. Her coat looked as though it might have once been pink but was matted with dirt and blood. What have once been elegant formal attire had been torn to shatters and now clung to her body with the help of belts that appeared to have been in place long enough for the fabric folds to retain their shape if it were removed.

She screamed, scrambling up the wall while bullets flew from what appeared to be a metal dragon, until the bullets and screams ceased and she fell to the ground with a crunch. I recoiled at the sound but found it difficult to blink or look away from the scene. Her eyes were frozen, wide but dilated, her mouth frozen in a crooked smile. She almost reminded me of somepony.

"Would you kindly find something blunt to get rid of some of that mess in your path? Wretched splicers.. Not the first time we've lost a pony out on a scout mission because of them."

I looked around, picking up a wretch with my magic, going to tell Cadence I had found it, but noted the debris in the way and knocking it aside with ease. As it fell away I realized for a moment that it would have been something I moved with magic, but I was thankful to have some form of defense now.

I crotched, crawling through the tapered passage and squinting in the dark at the fire that blazed at the top of the stairs with quickly became the fire that fell towards me. I only had a moment to think, but hastily got to the wall, narrowly avoiding what had apparently been a flaming dresser.

I heard another scream, and a voice insisting that he not be judged. I stayed down for a moment, holding the wrench as close as I could, going so far as to wrap my hooves around it. I glanced up at the entrance which was now illuminated by the glow of the sea, seeing another "splicer" standing at the top of the stairs. Though a stallion, he was no less grotesque than the mare I had first encountered.

As he ran towards me, I felt my body moving without command, bringing the wretch down on his skull and hearing the crunch before I opened my eyes to see him hitting the ground. The bandages he wore on his head had done little to soften the blood or clot the fresh flow of blood and from the look of it they had done very little to prevent it previously.

"You alright? Make sure he hasn't got anything you need. It's difficult to survive down here."

I nodded to no one, ignoring the stink of the material and fashioning a satchel from his clothes and packing away the small medicine kit he carried and a syringe full of a luminous blue liquid. I heard the voice of a little filly as I worked, realizing it came from upstairs.

It took very little time to decide to try to find her, going up and discovering that the voice had been no filly at all, but a machine. A _Gather's Garden_ machine, to be precise. Two playful fillies stood on either side, wearing lightly colored dresses and bows in their manes, exchanging lines about strength and intelligence and improvements to their clients. I looked at the machine, seeing large vials twinkling with red liquid.

One sat out, already dispensed, with a syringe beside it.

I did little thinking as I took it, shooting it into one of my front hooves.

Instantaneously everything stung and my vision blurred, everything red and sparking and glowing and blinding. Cadence's voice stung in my ears and only made the burning worse. Lightning sparked from my horn and shot at the walls and trash cans and posters. I stumbled over my own hooves, teetering over the banister and crashing onto the first floor, landing in a pile of debris before closing my eyes to stop the stinging.


End file.
